The Sustainable Architectural Values of Eclectic Style Shophouses Case Study: Sun Yat Sen Museum Penang, Malaysia Akram Zwain, Azizi Bahauddin School of Housing, Building & Planning, Universiti Sains Malaysia ABSTRACT The Sun Yat Sen shophouse in Penang is a small private Museum, which was converted from a shophouse or townhouse situated in the Armenian Street heritage area of George Town. The building is an example of embraces of the architectural heritage of George Town which is an extra ordinarily beautiful example of Straits Se!lements merchant’s shophouse. Historically, it is associated with the global historical personality of Dr. Sun Yat Sen and his revolutionary movement. This city was added to the UNESCO’s world heritage list in 2008 to acknowledge its rich cultural heritage that constitutes of unique architectural and cultural townscape along the Straits of Melaka. This paper investigates the architec- tural plan of a shophouse and the values of cultural heritage buildings, which eventually were converted into a Museum in George Town, Penang. Classified as an eclectic style shophouse, it is rich in design and art components featured in its architecture that are still sustaining until today. This building has an interesting mixture of architectural and cultural inspirations adapted from the Chinese origin, with the local Malay ethnicity and the Euro- pean influences that colonised the region. The introduction of new non related architectural components into the southern Chinese style in shophouses in George Town has resulted in the disappearance of this unique style of architecture. This investigation employs a qualita- tive research approach by documenting evidence and understanding the architectural as well as cultural influences of the southern Chinese eclectic style by studying the Sun Yat Sen Museum as a case study. The findings of the research point towards an understanding of the architectural and cultural influences that govern the design of the shophouse and its architectural character. Keywords: sustainable architectural values, George Town, eclectic style, shophouses INTRODUCTION The main objective of this paper is to exa- mine the sustainable architectural values of the eclectic style of shophouses. The straits eclectic is the architectural manifestation of east meeting west. Elements of European ar- chitecture are incorporated into properties that usually belong to Asia and very likely Chinese owners. In fact, it is rich in design and art components featured in its architec- ture that are still sustaining to date. The straits eclectic style came about during a prosperous era in the history of George Town in between 1840s to 1910s. It was also during the period when George Town experienced an influx of Chinese immigrants. Most of the ornate clan shop- houses in George Town were built during this period of time. Furthermore, this city was successfully added to the UNESCO’s world heritage list to acknowledge its rich cultural heritage that constitutes of unique architectural and cultural Townscape along the Straits of Malacca.
9
Embed
The Sustainable Architectural Values of Eclectic Style ...
This document is posted to help you gain knowledge. Please leave a comment to let me know what you think about it! Share it to your friends and learn new things together.
Transcript
The Sustainable Architectural Values of Eclectic Style Shophouses
Case Study: Sun Yat Sen Museum Penang, Malaysia
Akram Zwain, Azizi BahauddinSchool of Housing, Building & Planning, Universiti Sains Malaysia
ABSTRACT
The Sun Yat Sen shophouse in Penang is a small private Museum, which was converted
from a shophouse or townhouse situated in the Armenian Street heritage area of George
Town. The building is an example of embraces of the architectural heritage of George Town
which is an extra ordinarily beautiful example of Straits Se! lements merchant’s shophouse.
Historically, it is associated with the global historical personality of Dr. Sun Yat Sen and
his revolutionary movement. This city was added to the UNESCO’s world heritage list
in 2008 to acknowledge its rich cultural heritage that constitutes of unique architectural
and cultural townscape along the Straits of Melaka. This paper investigates the architec-
tural plan of a shophouse and the values of cultural heritage buildings, which eventually
were converted into a Museum in George Town, Penang. Classifi ed as an eclectic style
shophouse, it is rich in design and art components featured in its architecture that are still
sustaining until today. This building has an interesting mixture of architectural and cultural
inspirations adapted from the Chinese origin, with the local Malay ethnicity and the Euro-
pean infl uences that colonised the region. The introduction of new non related architectural
components into the southern Chinese style in shophouses in George Town has resulted in
the disappearance of this unique style of architecture. This investigation employs a qualita-
tive research approach by documenting evidence and understanding the architectural as
well as cultural infl uences of the southern Chinese eclectic style by studying the Sun Yat
Sen Museum as a case study. The fi ndings of the research point towards an understanding
of the architectural and cultural infl uences that govern the design of the shophouse and its
architectural character.
Keywords: sustainable architectural values, George Town, eclectic style, shophouses
INTRODUCTION
The main objective of this paper is to exa-
mine the sustainable architectural values of
the eclectic style of shophouses. The straits
eclectic is the architectural manifestation of
east meeting west. Elements of European ar-
chitecture are incorporated into properties
that usually belong to Asia and very likely
Chinese owners. In fact, it is rich in design
and art components featured in its architec-
ture that are still sustaining to date.
The straits eclectic style came about
during a prosperous era in the history of
George Town in between 1840s to 1910s. It
was also during the period when George
Town experienced an infl ux of Chinese
immigrants. Most of the ornate clan shop-
houses in George Town were built during
this period of time. Furthermore, this city
was successfully added to the UNESCO’s
world heritage list to acknowledge its rich
cultural heritage that constitutes of unique
architectural and cultural Townscape along
the Straits of Malacca.
Panggung Vol. 27 No. 2, Juni 2017 109
METHODOLOGY
This study covers numerous methods in
documenting about the beauty of Sun Yat
Sun Museum shophouse architecture style.
The Sun Yat Sen Museum,which is situated
in the heart of the George Town city, Pe-
nang with the architectural and cultural in-
fl uenced by Baba-Nyonya (Eclectic Style) has
been chosen to become the case study in this
paper. It is observed that there are many ar-
chitectural aspects that could be explored
in further details to be documented as part
of research studies. The idea of this study is
to zoom in to details on how the exploita-
tion of heritage helps to educate people all
over the world about the architectural and
cultural. The combination of multiple tra-
ditional architectures such as Chinese, Eng-
lish colonial as well as Malay architecture
has infl uenced the uniqueness of eclectic
style, which could be distinguished from
the local architecture.
There are many ways could be em-
ployed so as to understand the details of
culture people and their heritage. One of
the methods used in this study is through
visual data collection. This method had
been carried out by observing the entire
architectural elements available in this Mu-
seum. This is important so as to fully un-
derstand about eclectic style architecture.
Apart from that, interviews with the owner
of this Museum had also been conducted to
support the visual data collection. This has
helped collecting most of the useful infor-
mation about eclectic style architecture and
enhances the knowledge about the signifi -
cance of commodifi cation of eclectic style
architecture so as to preserve its heritage.
DISCUSSION AND FINDINGS
Historical Background of George Town, Penang
George Town, Penang established in
1786 by the British thus, it has more than
200 years of urban history (Figure 1). Apart
from colonial buildings, George Town has
more than 5000 units of traditional shop-
houses with signifi cant heritage values. Ef-
forts taken to conserve George Town’s urban
heritage begun in the early 1970s, but the
fi rst formal public policy to protect heritage
buildings was published in 1985. UNESCO
has recognized George Town, Penang as
one of its heritage areas on 7th July 2008.
This status was awarded to George Town
due to its uniqueness in architectural va-
lues as well as cultural landscapes within
the town itself. This makes them so unique
and special compared to any other places in
the world (h! p://whc.unesco.org).
Architectural Values of Shophouses
It is observed that the unique type of
architectural values of structure in George
Town clearly exhibits the infl uence of Chi-
nese, Malay, Indian and European styles
(Figure 2). All of this mixture found to be
matured and merged in response to the
local and the environment. From Chinese
Figure1: Map of Penang Island, Core and Buff er Zone of UNESCO WorldSource: heritagegeorgetown.blogspot.my, 2008
110 Zwain, Bahauddin: The Sustainable Architectural Values of Eclectic Style Shophouses